The present application relates generally to devices for receiving the byproducts of coughing or sneezing. More specifically, the present application is directed to an apparatus to mitigate the spread of infectious material caused by coughing or sneezing.
In the health care field and other fields (e.g., food preparation field), as well as in everyday life, the practice of reducing the spread of infectious material (e.g., bacteria, viruses, mucous, germs, saliva, and other infectious material) that results from coughing or sneezing has become increasingly important. Many are sickened, some seriously and even fatally, from the infectious material spread by a sneeze or a cough. Government and private insurers have begun denying reimbursement to hospitals for the treatment of “preventable infections” that patients acquire in the hospitals.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommends reducing the spread of such infectious material by promoting the practice of “respiratory etiquette” (e.g., covering one's nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing). Because the common practice of covering one's nose and mouth with one's hand when coughing or sneezing results in hand and object contamination, the CDC and the HHS, among other things, instruct people to cover their nose and mouth regions using a conventional tissue or a clothing sleeve when coughing or sneezing in order to better restrain the infectious material or byproducts of a cough or a sneeze from spreading to others. Most people do not want to or are unable to cough or sneeze into a sleeve because there is a social constraint against using the sleeve as a tissue, coughing or sneezing into the sleeve contaminates the sleeve with infectious material, there may be no sleeve into which to cough or sneeze (e.g., short sleeve or sleeveless clothing), and coughing or sneezing into the sleeve may stain the sleeve (e.g., lipstick).
Often, the cough or the sneeze can occur with little warning, generally leaving insufficient time to react to the cough or the sneeze, such as by obtaining and using a conventional tissue to receive (e.g., block and/or capture) the infectious material or byproducts associated with the cough or the sneeze. The act of sneezing (sternutation) can expel the infectious material or the byproducts from one's nose and mouth region in excess of 100 miles per hour. Attempting to stifle sternutation, especially repeatedly, can cause serious injuries, such as damaged blood vessels, broken facial bones, as well as other serious injuries, and is not a viable alternative.
In some fields, it is often impractical or impossible to make the conventional tissue readily available. For example, in the health care field, a doctor or a nurse examining a patient, or a staff person carrying a tray, may not have free use of his or her hands to secure a tissue and to block the infectious material or byproducts associated with the cough or the sneeze. Even if a conventional tissue is readily available and its use not impractical or impossible, the conventional tissue may not sufficiently restrain the spread of the infectious material or byproducts expelled, often simply re-directing the infectious material expelled as a result of a cough or a sneeze. Furthermore, the cougher or sneezer's hand is often contaminated because the infectious material or byproducts expelled soak or blow through the tissue.